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The Edwin C. Gentzler Translation Center will host an opening reception of “Translating the Past: The Burns Antiphoner,” an exhibition on the art of translating a medieval manuscript by Gennifer Dorgan, on Tuesday, April 29, from 4-5 p.m., in Herter 017. 

The Burns Antiphoner, a 14^th century manuscript antiphoner, is a volume of monophonic chant likely compiled for, and used by, members of the Franciscan, or Clarissan, order during the 1300s. The manuscript, of unknown provenance and ownership history until its purchase by Boston College in 1998, was probably copied in the mid-1300s in southern Germany, Austria or Switzerland. It is currently housed in the John J. Burns Library of Boston College.

The event will include refreshments and a conversation about the manuscript’s artwork showcased in the exhibit.

Dorgan, a doctoral student in comparative literature, specializes in high medieval German, English and Latin literatures with a particular focus on gender, rhetoric and intertextuality in texts emerging from communities of pious women.

Her additional areas of interest include the global history of the book and the ways that medieval texts shape contemporary discussions about identity. Her work has appeared in publications including Early Middle English, American Notes and Queries, and the Harvard Library Bulletin.

Dorgan received her bachelor’s degree in German area studies from Kenyon College and her master’s in medieval studies from the University of Connecticut, and has taught German and Latin at Assumption University. She is currently studying Hildegard of Bingen’s “Liber Vitae Meritorium” and working on an English translation of the “St. Trudperter Hohelied.”